A group of about 200 people were at Parliament on Monday to ask for a moratorium on seabed mining.
The group included members of Kiwis Against Seabed Mining (KASM) and three busloads from South Taranaki's Ngāti Ruanui iwi. The petition had more than 6000 signatures, KASM chairman Phil McCabe said, and the mining off the Patea coast could affect Maui dolphins and blue whales.
There were moratoria on seabed mining off the coasts of Australia's Northern Territory and Namibia, he said, because those governments were not confident environmental damage could be avoided.
The groups fear the second application by Trans-Tasman Resources (TTR) to mine iron sand from the South Taranaki seabed will be approved by the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA).
They went into Parliament with karanga, karakia and waiata and got a good reception from Maori and Green Party MPs, Ngati Ruanui CEO Debbie Ngarewa-Packer said. There was also music and lots of media present.